Health And Wellness Center: Insomnia. How to sleep better?

We spent much of our lives sleeping. Infants sleep practically 24 hours a day. Young children are cast frequent naps. Youngsters and teenagers sleep about eight or nine hours each night, while most adults can sleep seven or eight hours, sometimes less. Many older people need fewer hours still, perhaps five or six and also tend to have a lighter sleep. Older people may not need or may not be able to sleep as much as young people. This could be because they have a relatively inactive lifestyle, or because they sleep more during the day.

What is insomnia?

The term insomnia refers to the inability to sleep or staying asleep for a period of time. This can cause chronic fatigue that adversely affects our daily lives.
That said, it is important to emphasize that virtually everyone has trouble sleeping at one time or another in their lives. Stress, depression and worry are well known causes of insomnia. The disease is another possible cause, especially if there is pain or discomfort.

What precautions should I take when using sleeping pills?

There are many types of sleeping pills available. However, it is important not to use sleeping pills too often. With them, the body becomes dependent on medication and you may find it very difficult to stop taking it. You may also need increasing doses to achieve the same desired effect, because your body becomes tolerant, ie calls for greater dose of the substance to cause the same effect. They can also leave a feeling of drowsiness and lethargy in the morning.

Useful tips for people with insomnia

Often exercise helps you sleep, but avoid exercise just before going to bed.
Put in writing paper concerns rather than fret about them while trying to sleep.
A warm bath before going to bed can help.
Try not to eat much before going to bed.
Drinking alcohol can disrupt sleep at night, although a small drink can help you reconcile the first dream.
Cut back on beverages containing caffeine (coffee, tea, cocoa and colas) especially late in the afternoon.
Make sure you have a comfortable bed. The bedroom should be well ventilated and cool and as dark and quiet as possible.
Do not go to bed until you feel tired.
The fair sex before bedtime can both promote and hinder sleep. Men may sleep well after sex while many women are revealed.
Read a book until you feel sleepy. Stand up again if you can not fall asleep within half an hour. Sit down, read the newspaper, listen to music and go back to bed half an hour later.
Get up every morning at the same time. Set the alarm and get out of bed quickly, even if she slept late or have not been able to sleep. Thus, at the end of the day you will probably feel tired and sleepy at just the right time. If you do this for a sufficient amount of days, you will succeed in adjusting its internal clock and will be tired when needed.
During the long bus rides or plane it might be worth taking a sleeping pill if you think you have sleep problems. This pill should be fast acting and with an effect limited time, about five or six hours. Either way should be your physician to prescribe the right one for you sleeping pill.

Most people can overcome insomnia following the tips above. If you still do not see solution to the issue, consult your general practitioner.

Does it affect our sleep using your mobile or tablet before going to bed?

We define ourselves as visual animals. More than 80% of the information received by our brain is through the eyes, they also have another function, which is to control the circadian rhythm. When the eye detects the amount of light in the atmosphere starts to drop, follows that is being done at night, and triggers the production of melatonin, a hormone whose function is basically let you sleep.

The eye is unable to distinguish artificial sunlight, so any light source can affect your sleep after a certain time. For example the television screen or our phones and tablets.

Using these devices before going to bed or while we are lying in bed can cause problems falling asleep during the first 30 minutes. The problem of mobile is that we continue to use them even with the lights off and are lying in bed. And it is that different studies confirm that light off the screens of our mobile phones affect the secretion of melatonin. Therefore it is advisable to lower the brightness to a minimum if we are to use it at night before going to bed. A curious fact, with maximum brightness, the light emission of your Smartphone can reach 275 lux, and 5-10 when the minimum.

What is recommended? Avoid using computers, phones and tablets from ten o'clock at night, do stimulating activities with our devices and our exposure to artificial light as low as possible.

The rest is part of our performance and vitality. What mobile do not lose sleep!